Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Day 2: Started at last (part 2)

Last year, when me and KP had passed through the same road, we had removed our bags at most crossings. This time, I didn't do it even at one place! A few km later, I decided to take a chance with the middle chain ring. I was rewarded with success - the chain held onto gear#2 on the back. However, the chain looked a bit too tight. This wasn't a problem while riding, but was a general cause of concern.

Just before Alubadi Ghat, I saw a few pitched tents. I said Hi to who looked like the owner. He was Shishir, from Bengal. He told me he was working with the local MLA and trying to promote tourism here. He arranges for bird watching, Elephant rides, canoing, etc. Much needed in Arunachal. I gleefully accepted the black tea that was offered to me! After a short chat, it was time to say bye. By this time, I had realized I couldn't reach Tinsukia today and had lowered my sights to Namsai. This brought a lot of relief to me.

It was about 12:45 when I reached Alubadi Ghat. Everyone needs to get onto the ferry to cross this. Again, memories of last times tour came flooding. Soon after crossing this, I reached Alubadi village. Went to the cycle shop immediately- the current chain setup had resulted in me riding way too slowly. This was fine for the river crossing, but not for plain road that was about to come.

We spent about an hour repairing the bike. We shortened the chain to make the bike faster - gear#2 on front and gear#8 on the back. But we faced a difficult problem - the chain would up shift on the back to gear#7 at the slightest hint of pedal pressure. The chain would then become so tight that it appeared like giving way any instant. This was finally solved by the mechanic by use of a hammer on the teeth on the gears. He also found that two teeth on gear#3 were missing! Finally, I was ready to ride on at 2 PM. I decided to have lunch at Chongkham, about 5 km away.